WE REACH FORT LARNED 



team. A soldier volunteered to guide us to a good 

 crossing and camp, and we soon had our animals 

 turned out and tent pitched, and, while Tom and 

 Jack were getting the dinner, at their request I 

 overhauled first the letters and then the papers, 

 reading to my comrades the most interesting 

 items as I came to them. 



The papers and magazines were full of exciting 

 and interesting news concerning the progress of 

 the war, then just getting under good headway. 

 Of letters we got but few, the most interesting of 

 which to me was one from the girl I had left be- 

 hind me and another from the old storekeeper 

 and postmaster back at the camp where we had 

 encountered the jayhawkers. 



The storekeeper informed us that no inquiry 

 had been made for the black horse, and he did 

 not think it likely that there would be as he had 

 learned that Tucker and his gang had stolen many 

 of their best horses from over the border in Mis- 

 souri and the black horse was probably one of 

 them. 



He also informed us that, following out the plan 

 suggested by Tom, his neighbor had trailed the 

 jayhawkers to their new camp down on the Neosho 

 River, near Emporia; that a few days after we 

 left a company of cavalry had arrived from Fort 

 Leavenworth, in answer to the letter he had writ- 

 ten to the commander of the department, looking 

 for the gang of outlaws, and the man who had fol- 



113 



